In Black Lives Matter era, reviewers are won over by new documentary film 'I Am Not Your Negro'
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
The new documentary, 鈥淚 Am Not Your Negro,鈥� to be released on Feb. 3, has attracted praise from critics for its relevance in the era of Black Lives Matter.
The movie is directed by Raoul Peck and is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. The film discusses race relations in America and centers on an unpublished work by civil rights-era social critic James Baldwin, drawing from notes about a possible book titled 鈥淩emember This House鈥� that would have looked at three figures in the civil rights movement: Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers.聽
The movie has so far received very positive reviews from critics. 聽called the film 鈥渟plendid鈥� and wrote that 鈥淓verything Baldwin said then, about race and America, speaks with urgent prescience to the America Baldwin (who died in 1987) never saw but saw coming, because he'd seen it before: Rodney King. Ferguson. Black Lives Matter. All of it. The necessity for all of it.
"The bloody, racist forces destroying his subjects, which we now couch in milder, misleading discussions of 鈥榳hite nationalism鈥� and 鈥榓lt-right,鈥� have infected the body politic with renewed virulence in the 21st century," Mr. Phillips continued. "This movie isn't just a tribute to Baldwin. It's a warning bell regarding leaders who, in Baldwin's words, care only about 鈥榯heir safety and their profits.鈥� 鈥澛�
was also won over by the film, writing that it is 鈥渁 mesmerizing cinematic experience, smart, thoughtful, and disturbing ... [it鈥檚] a film essay that's powerfully and painfully relevant today even though its subject died almost 30 years ago.鈥澛�
础苍诲听 writes that, like Mr. Turan, she was also troubled by the film. 鈥淚t is a searing and topical indictment of racial prejudice and hatred in America that makes for uneasy viewing and is not easily forgotten,鈥� she writes. Ms. Young did note that 鈥渢he film鈥檚 loose structure and preference for free association can get confusing,鈥� but overall she found that 鈥淎merica鈥檚 history of racism, violence, exploitation and injustice comes through with chilling clarity.鈥�
